Insulated hollow block wall



p 23, 1958 E. R. AMUNDSQN 2,852,933

INSULATED HOLLOW BLOCK WALL I Filed May 26, 1950 NVENTOR Earl R AmundsoBY Emma .\W \\\\LWW\\\\\L R4 1 A A A w @..o....

ATTORNEY ited atent {ice INSULATED HDLLOW BLOCK WALL Earl R. Amundsen,Deadwood, S. Dak., assignor to Thermoflector Corporation, North SiouxCity, S. Dark, a corporation of South Dakota Application May 26, 1950,Serial No. 164,557 Claims. (Cl. 72-41) My invention relates to animprovement in concrete block wall construction and deals particularlywith a type of wall in which the air spaces within the wall areinsulated.

Many attempts have been made to produce concrete block walls which arerelatively non-conductive of heat. In certain of these instances, slabsor blocks have been secured in spaced relationship by connectingelements. While Walls constructed of these slabs do not conduct heat aswell as ordinary concrete block walls, the air space between the innerand outer slabs does not provide the most effective insulation. It is toimprove the thermal qualities of such a wall that the present inventionis particularly designed.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a wallhaving inner and outer layers of material connected together by suitableconnecting means. A panel of aluminum or similar heat reflective sheetis supported between the walls in spaced relation thereto. This sheethas the ability of reflecting heat which tends to pass through the wall,thus considerably increasing the thermal efficiency of the wall.

A feature of the present invention lies in the manner in which thealuminum foil or similar material is protected from the walls. The limeusually present in concrete blocks and similar building blocks tends tohave a deleterious efifect upon the aluminum foil. It is thereforedesirable to prevent contact between the concrete and the foil. Mystructure is so arranged as to prevent actual contact between the foiland the concrete of the blocks.

An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of asimple insulating panel, preferably formed of aluminum foil laminated towater-proof paper board, or other suitable material. The foil ispreferably laminated to both sides of the base. Means are provided forspacing the foil from the block so that actual contact between theconcrete and the foil will not occur.

An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of aninsulating panel having a pair of spacing members connected to oppositeends thereof. These spacing members are designed to hold the foillaminated material in spaced relation to the concrete of the buildingblocks, thus preventing injury to the foil.

Another feature of the present invention lies in the provision of aconcrete block which is so shaped as to provide overlapping apertureslongitudinally of the block. The foil acts to reflect heat rays back inthe general direction from which they come. By providing a block withoverlapping apertures in spaced relation and by placing heat reflectivepanels in these apertures so that the reflectvie panels also overlap,the insulation is substantially continuous throughout the length of theblock. Furthermore, by providing staggered overlapping apertures in theblock, the heat conductivity through the block is also decreased.

An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of ameans for spacing the heat reflective panels of one block from thepanels of another block of a different tier of blocks, thereby providinga series of sealed air spaces in the blocks which are for the most part,separate from one another.

These and other objects and novel features of my 2 invention will bemore clearly and fully set forthin the following specification andclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a building block in which my heatinsulating panels are used.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a heat reflective panel of the typeused in conjunction with the blocks shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of a block of the type shown in Figure 1having the heat reflective panels supported therein. 1

Figure 4 is a vertical section through a series of superimposed blocksshowing the manner in which the panels of one tier of blocks isseparated from the panels of the next adjacent tier.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through a block showing diagrammaticallythe manner in which excess mortar may be scraped from the block apertureso as to prevent actual contact with the insulating panel.

The concrete block which I prefer to employ in my construction isindicated in general by the letter A. The block A is shown as having anouter panel 10, an inner panel 11, and an intermediate panel 12. Thesepanels are arranged in spaced parallel relation. The block is reversiblein practice and the panel 11 may serve as the outer panel, while thepanel 10 serves as the inner panel.

The panel 10 is separated from the intermediate panel 12 by connectingwebs 13 which space the two panels apart and which form an intermediateaperture 14 and a pair of aligned partial apertures 15. The apertures 15of adjacent blocks form a single continuous elongated aperture of thesame size as aperture 14 when the blocks are placed end to end.

The central panel 12 is separated from the panel 11 by connecting webs16. These webs 16 divide the space between the panels into spacedelongated apertures 17. It will be noted that the connecting webs 13 areoffset from the webs 16 so that the apertures 14 and 15 overlap theapertures 17. Thus there is no continuous connection directly throughthe block from the panel 10 to the panel 11 and heat must be conductedin a zigzag path in order to pass through the block, thus elongating thetravel distance.

In Figure 2 of the drawings 1 disclose a heat insulating panel which isindicated in general by the letter B. The panels B are designed forinsertion in the apertures 14, 15 and 17 as will be later described indetail. The insulating panel B includes a panel or Web 19, which ispreferably formed of aluminum foil or similar metal foil laminated toboth sides of an intermediate web of paper board or the like. The paperboard is preferably moisture resistant so as not to be injured by acertain amount of moisture absorption. The foil coating on both sides ofthe panel 19 acts to reflect heat in either direction from the panel.

The panel 19 is foldably connected at 20 to an end flange 21. Thecentral panel 19 is similarly foldably connected along a fold line 22 toan end flange 23. The flanges 21 and 23 are stitched or otherwisesecured as indicated at 24 a pair of spaced supports 25 and 26. Thesupports 25 and 26 may be formed of moisture resistant paper board orother suitable material and may fold flat with relation to the centralpanel 19 when the insulating panel is not in use. In actual use the endsupports 25 and 26 are folded into substantially parallel relation andextend at substantially right angles to the plane of the center panel19.

In Figure 3 of the drawings I disclose in general the manner in whichthe insulation panels B are inserted into the concrete blocks'A. It willbe noted that the center portion 19 of the panels B is slightly shorterthan the total length of the apertures 14, 15 and 17 so that thesupports 25 and 26' bridge across the rounded ends of these. apertures.It will also be noted that the edges of the strips 25 and 26 contact thewalls of the apertures so as to hold the foil laminated center portion19 as well as the end flanges 21 and 23 in spaced relation to the wallsof the apertures. Thus there is. no actual contact between the. foil andthe concrete of the blocks so that the foil will not be injured throughcontact.

Figure 4 of the drawings illustrates more completely the manner in whichthe insulation panels B are supported in superimposed tiersof blocks A.In building a wall of the blocks A, a layer of mortar 29 isplaced uponthe footing 3t) and the lowermost tier of blocks is placed in end to endrelation on the mortar. When the lowermost tier of blocks is in place atool C of the type illustrated in Figure. of the drawings is used toremove superfluous mortar from the footing 30 at the base of theapertures 14, and 17. The tool C .comprises an elongated strip. of bandiron or other suitable material which is designed to scrape the mortarfrom the surface of the footing and to permit its removal by tilting thetool in the manner illustrated in Figure 5, and elevating the lower endtogether with the mortar resting upon the surface of the tool. Thispermits the panel B to rest directly upon the footing 3.0 between thewalls of the apertures in which they are positioned.

After the panels B have been inserted in all of the various aperturescap strips 31 are placed above, each of the insulating panels as bestillustrated in Figure 4. The cap strips 31 are formed of moistureresistant paper board or other suitable material and are slightly widerthan the apertures in which they are placed. As a result the cap stripsare curved slightly as they are inserted so that the sides of the capstrip engage the walls of the aperture and form a closure for eachopening. These cap strips 31 also protect the foil from engagement withthe concrete of the blocks.

One such cap strip 31 may, if desired, be placed beneath the aperture ofeach block in the lowermost tier of blocks to prevent contact of thefoil with the footing when the footing is formed of concrete containinglime, or other ingredients, having a deleterious effect on the foil.

After the cap strips 31 of the lowermost tier are in place, mortar isspread upon the upper surfaces of these blocks and the next tier ofblocks A is laid. The second tier of blocks is usually staggeredrelative to the first layer as is common practice to provide a wall ofmaximum strength. When the blocks of the second tier are in place thetool C is used to scrape excess mortar from the top of the cap strip 31of the first layer of blocks and an insulating panel B is inserted ineach aperture of the blocks of the second tier.

This same procedure is followed with the blocks of each tier. It will benoted that as a result the cells in each block are individually sealedand thus provide more effective insulation. From an observation ofFigure 3 of the drawings it will be obvious that the insulation panels Bare arranged in overlapping relation so that heat rays cannot passdirectly through the block without striking an insulation panel B. Thesepanels tend to reflect such heat rays, thereby limiting the transfer ofheat through the block.

It will also be noted that heat which is conducted through the blockmust travel in a ziz-zag path in order to pass fro-m one wall surface tothe opposite wall surface, thereby increasing the effectiveness of theblock from a heat transfer standpoint. v i

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my concrete block wall construction,and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, Idesire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within thescope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim:

1. In combination. a concrete building block of substantially standardsize and material formed with a pluralit y of overlapping oval apertureshaving smoothlyrounded end walls without grooves therein and extendingin spaced staggered relationship longitudinally of the block, saidapertures haying inserted therein self-sustaining flexible laminatedinsulating panels, having a central heat reflective section on each sidethereof longitudinally bridging the block aperture supported byprotective end sections freely compressed against the normallysmoothly-rounded curvature of the oval ends of said aperture, and saidend sections being unattached to the 'walls of said aperture andinsulating the said heat reflective central section from contact withthe concrete of the building block.

2. The structure of claim 1, including in combination flexible capstrips overlying a plurality of said self-retain ing flexible insulatingpanels and closing each of said apertures containing said panels.

3. The structure of claim 1, wherein said central section is a thinflexible laminated self-supporting aluminum foil material and theprotective end sections are connected by fold lines to said centralsection to provide frictional anchoring flanges for supporting saidcentral section without auxiliary fastening attachments.

4. In combination a reversible concrete block of standard size andmaterial formed with a plurality of overlapping apertures in staggeredspaced relationship longitudinally of the block, said apertures havingindependently inserted therein self-sustaining thin laminatedself-supporting flexible metal foil panels having a central section andend sections longitudinally bridging the apertures and supported thereinin spaced relationship to the concrete walls of said apertures by theend sections thereof in compressed frictional engagement againstopposite faces of said aperture walls, and closure caps overlying saidthin flexible metal foil panels and closing the ends of the apertures insaid reversible concrete blocks.

:5. An insulated concrete block wall formed of substantially standardsize reversible concrete blocks laid with mortar in independentstaggered tiers comprising in combination at least one tier of concreteblocks having a plurality of apertures with overlapping ends instaggered spaced relationship extending longitudinally of the tier, aplurality of independently mounted thin laminated metal foilself-sustaining flexible heat reflective insulating panels substantiallycentered within said apertures and spaced from the walls thereof byflexible ends frictionally engaging against opposite walls of saidapertures, closure caps in said apertures overlying said panels, andanother independent tier secured in staggered relationship to said firsttier and provided with a plurality of similar apertures, a furthersimilar set of a plurality of independently mounted thin self-sustainingflexible heat reflective insulating panels mounted in said similarapertures in spaced and staggered relationship with overlapping endsrelative to said panels in said .one tier, and aditional closure caps insaid similar apertures overlying said further similar set of panels andin relatively staggered relationship to the said closure caps in saidone tier.

References Cited in the file of this patent

